Police officers are being fitted with GPS tracking devices which pin point their exact locations – in a ‘Big Brother’ style snooping operation.

In the next few months every officer working for Cheshire Constabulary will be allocated a tracker, allowing management to see where they are at every moment during their shift.

Police bosses hope the software, which will even be fitted to PCSOs, will finally quell complaints that police are never seen in communities – by proving just how much time each officer spends on the beat.

FOXi – similar to the technology in GPS watches – will allow management to pin point the exact street, house and co-ordinates of officers to show where is being patrolled effectively.

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It is also hoped the tracker will help police respond to incidents more swiftly – with control rooms able to see exactly how far each officer is from a 999 call.

Speaking to The Chronicle police and crime commissioner John Dwyer admitted purchasing the software was an ‘almost Big Brother move’ to provide ‘management information’ to help police Cheshire more effectively.

“This will show just what patrol time is being given to the people of Cheshire,” said Mr Dwyer, who did not say how much the software had cost.

“That will create a baseline and, as a result of having that baseline, we can then work on how we increase the amount of patrol time that is being given to the people of Cheshire.”

Mr Dwyer said the technology was important so that ‘deployment’ could see exactly where each officer was, but also to monitor how many hours were done by each officer on each beat.

He added that no officers had complained about the software, which is currently being trialled ready for countywide implementation.

“The reality is, police officers want people to know just how much time they are spending in the community, because they are forever hearing comments like ‘we never see a police officer’.”

“The truth of the matter is they’re there and this will prove it.”

New chief, new vision

Smart cars, tech-savvy bobbies and a PCSO for every community are all part of the new police chief’s extensive vision to drag the force out of the ‘Victorian era’.

During his three years as assistant commissioner for the Metropolitan Police, Simon Byrne was renowned for cost-cutting and streamlining services.

But just hours before he was officially sworn-in to Cheshire Constabulary this week, the new chief constable revealed his extensive vision to use the force’s almost £200m budget to bring Cheshire’s police into the modern technological age.

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In an interview with The Chronicle it was hinted these advances may come with a price – with potential station closures seeing officers working from desks in shops, schools and libraries and streamlining of desk jobs.

In a series of promises to the public this week, the 51-year-old father-of-two vowed to:

send a police officer to every reported car crime within an hour

recruit 50 new police constables and a PCSO for every ward

deploy officers to every victim of crime who requests a meeting

put victims back at the heart of the force

invest in technology; including tablets for officers and ‘Smart’ number-plate reading cars for police.

Mr Byrne – who comes to the force with a 32 year service spanning senior positions in Merseyside, Manchester and the Met in London – said Cheshire is stuck in the “Victorian era”, with officers having to return to stations to use their computers.

The news comes as we reveal police managers plan to use GPS trackers to pin point the exact location of every officer on duty – in a self-confessed ‘Big Brother’ management move.

“They are tied to the police stations in a sort of Victorian way – every time there is an incident they have to go back to use the computer. You can do it all from a car or from another place in a public domain,” said Mr Byrne.

But chief constable Byrne – who while at the Met aimed to close 200 stations after saying no one visited them any more – said he was looking at modernising police stations, but that he couldn’t rule anything out – including closures.

“Some of them are quite ancient and have seen better days. While the backdrop might be about austerity it’s about making sure that we have a presence in towns and villages right across the county.

“Sometimes that might be a shop, where we’ve got a manned desk; it might be a library; other times it will still be bricks and mortar.

“I recognise that people value having a presence in their community that looks like a police station, but I have to live in the real world.

“Every time we leave the lights on there is money going through the roof; the ceilings; the lighting and heating all have a cost.

“I have said in other places it is bobbies that catch burglars, not buildings.

“But it might be the stark choice we have in a few years. We have got some tough choices to make in terms of how we spend our money.”

Chief Constable Byrne, who has lived in Cheshire for nearly 40 years, said his main priority was increasing visibility, saying: “We need to make sure money is being used wisely and efficiently as we can and we can take out as much duplication and unnecessary work and behind the scenes stuff.

“Then we can push more and more people into the streets and on the beat where you can see them.”